Trust us: We aren’t looking to hit you over the head with boater-safety proselytizing. And, yes, we have already talked some about boating safety this year. But a float plan-something a lot of us Bay boaters never bother with-can save lives, money and the precious time of search-and-rescue crews.

There are literally dozens of websites out there providing templates for the standard float plan, with places for you to fill in your boat’s name, a crew list, ETDs, ETAs, et cetera. Among the easiest and quickest to fill out and print are the U.S. Power Squadrons’ (www.usps.org/o_stuff/fp_form.html) and the U.S. Coast Guard’s (www.uscg.mil/hq/g-o/g-opr/float%20plan.htm). We also liked the template at Boatingsafety.com (www.boatingsafety.com/float.htm).